I am new to the blog. I applied for full membership and hope to gain it!

I am currently finishing a 6 month project, which is set to finish tomorrow.

During these last 6 months I have made two short documentaries a week. They premiere every Wednesday and Sunday and are based on randomly drawn words. The project is called MINICONCEPTDOCS. It has been the single best documentary filmmaking learning experience of my life. They can be seen here http://robertemmons.blogspot.com or my Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/raemmonsjr

I would love to hear comments from other documentary filmmakers.

I would consider myself a folk filmmaker interested in local culture and history, usually within the area I live in.

I teach film and media studies at Rutgers University in Camden.

I have written about ethics in documentary particularly the ethical responsibilities of the audience and the face of the Other. I look forward to the insights of the diverse group of filmmakers on this blog.

"Over the last three years, I have noticed that most filmmakers have bad postures and really bad backs."

Yes, there should be a physical therapy and yoga class for cinematographers and editors. It's hard enough to remember proper posture and ergonomics at a keyboard, but almost impossible to not hunch terribly while holding a heavy camera and staring forward into a viewfinder all day. Ugh!

You're welcome to join us, Robert. Even though it started as Doug's blog, The D-Word is better described as a community of documentary professionals these days with over 3,000 members from some 80 countries. Some of us teach docs as well, so there is a dedicated topic in the Member's area.

Really like the sound of your two docs a week, will check out your link.

The best tip I can think of offhand is to sign up for member status! (Though I'm not in charge, I'm guessing your work as an AD should qualify), and you'll have access to a lot of the more technical and various forums wherein you can ask much more pointed questions. I'm not sure if there's any one tip to make it seem less overwhelming except to expect that feeling and not pay too much attention to it! Oh, and welcome to the D-Word...

Hello Alison,
I'm in South Africa right now working on my first doc, I have worked as a photographer for the past 17 years and this is my first doc.
I will be around in October so depending on the area you are working in, we could certainly meet up. I'm living in Joburg.
Peace, Iris

Hello Everyone,
I'm Iris and I'm new to the field of documentary filmmaking. For the past 2 years I have been working and shooting in the States and South Africa. As you may imagine, I'm running very low on funding and have not found a funding source that supports first time independent filmmakers. It anyone has suggestions of funders I should contact, please send info to me. All info will be greatly appreciated.
Peace, Iris

Hey all,
I've made some short docs in the past, but took some time off to start a career. I freelance PA for network news. Now I'm working on a film about children who are head of households taking care of younger siblings. This website seems to be a really good resource, so I'm hoping I can turn to it when I get stuck.
I'm wondering if anyone has had any recent experiences traveling on airplanes with camera equipment. How much are they going to harass me if I have a lot of equipment that I will be carrying on?

airlines and equipment...the rules are very strict because there are none of old flexibilities left in the system. People I know who used to tip the skycaps and get 20 cases on a plane are now shipping them fedex.

Whatever fits into a carry-on is okay. But you are limited to one and a small handbag – laptop, purse, whatever. If you travel business class you can bring a second carry-on. My advice pack light or ship it ahead. The bag fees get expensive if you do multiple hops.

In reply to Robin Rowley's post on Sat 14 Aug 2010 : I routinely squeeze as much equipment as I can carry on---on. Get yourself a good smallish camera backpack. I have a KATA bag that I love--holds a laptop, a small handycam or a DSLR and a couple of lenses and some external drives--all the cords, etc. and counts as your "purse or briefcase". Then figure out how to pack the rest of what you need into a rolling carry-on. Tripods are what kill the deal. And yes--the baggage police will just make you check--no way around it--if you've got more than 2 carry on items.

Good morning/afternoon, y'all. It's Ken here, spending a typical day editing a short piece for another producer, promoting our upcoming PBS broadcast of "Speaking in Tongues," our last film, working on a proposal and trailer for our current film, "Got Balz?", and juggling the filmmaker/parenting thing. And enjoying life.

I just joined, and am hoping to be able to help documentary filmmakers finish their post production sound.
I have mixed about half a dozen documentaries in the last several years, as well as other films.

Hi, I'm Marcia. I work with Ken Schneider, (who introduced himself above) on social issue docs. Our most recent is on PBS this month--a piece about kids growing up bilingual called SPEAKING IN TONGUES. I've spent the past 18 months working on a national engagement campaign for it. And now we're back in line fundraising for a new project. That's the life.